China-led AIIB approves $60 million to finance Bangladesh gas project

The Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will provide Bangladesh loans worth $60 million to address the country's gas supply deficit, the AIIB said on Tuesday. The fund will be used to help Bangladesh's Natural Gas Infrastructure and Efficiency Improvement Project, as the lack of gas supply would "eventually impact Bangladesh's energy security and constrain the nation's economic growth", the AIIB said in a press release. The project is co-financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which approved a $167 million loan in November to boost Bangladesh's natural gas production and expand transmission infrastructure.